- Pennsylvania, USA -
~ UPDATE: February 15, 2022:
The number of charges facing by 64-year-old BARRY LEE ORNDORFF (pictured below), have increased.
ORNDORF is now facing 2,700 charges for the abuse of hundreds of animals who were removed from his farm.
In June 2021, ORNDORF was arrested after Pennsylvania State Police said he did not provide clean shelter, water, and necessary veterinary care for over 400 animals.
At that time ORNDORF was charged with 450 counts of felony aggravated animal cruelty and misdemeanor animal cruelty, but now, court documents show that ORNDORF is facing 2,700 counts of animal cruelty.
ORNDORF is facing charges for: cruelty to animals, aggravated cruelty to animals causing SBI or death, neglect of animals – sustenance/water, neglect of animals – shelter/protection, neglect of animals – vet care, and aggravated cruelty to animals – torture.
As reported by MyTwinTiers, 900 of the charges are felonies and the other 1,800 are misdemeanors.
ORNDORF is scheduled to appear in the Court of Common Pleas in Cumberland County in April 2022, for formal arrangement.
He is currently free on $5,000 bail.
~ Original story:
On the afternoon of Friday, June 4, Pennsylvania Sate Police called the nonprofit Speranza Animal Rescue with an emergency that needed quick assistance on a farm in Shippensburg.
Ms. Janine Guido, founder of the nonprofit, walked throughout the farm to discover hundreds of animals in serious conditions.
Sadly, many animals were found lifeless.
Birds, ducklings, geese, goats, rabbits, sheep, and one horse, Mr. Ed, were found without water or food, and in need of immediate medical care.
According to Ms. Guido, Mr. Ed was in a lot of pain.
Ms. Guido told FOX43: “They were all sick, the goats and sheep they have oozing eyes, some of them are cake shut with infection, they're having a hard time breathing."
On a Facebook post of June 5, the rescue wrote: “One goat we thought was dead until he let out a scream. He was actively dying. Couldn’t even lift his head. I truly believe he let out that one last ‘baa’ so we would end his suffering.”
She immediately reached out to social media for help and along with staff and volunteers, have made several trips back and forth to remove all the animals.
“I probably had 15 vehicles following me there, we loaded up every inch of every vehicle with whatever we could get in them”, Ms. Guido told FOX43.
Penn Live reports that many of the birds were being stored in cramped cages, presumably awaiting shipment to buyers.
Ms. Guido organized the rescue in stages.
The first one was to get all of the animals some space, food and water.
She then sorted them in groups according to their well-being status to help vets prioritize their efforts. Already on Saturday some of the animals were examined.
Ms. Guido explained to FOX43 that her sanctuary is not fit to hold the number of animals that were brought in and is asking rescuers to help out and take some in.
On June 5, Speranza Animal Rescue posted on their Facebook page that a total of 404 animals were rescued and 115 of them were brought to their facility.
As reported by Penn Live, by Saturday, some rescue shelters already responded to the call and “there were also donations of nearly $50,000 from the shelter’s friends to help pay for the vet services and additional grain, hay and straw that’s going to be needed.”
Ms. Guido said this is by far the largest single rescue her shelter has ever undertaken.
In connection with this case, 64-year-old BARRY LEE ORNDORFF (pictured below), of Sandbank Road in Southampton Township, was arrested and charged with 450 counts of felony aggravated on animals and misdemeanor animal cruelty charges.
ORNDORFF was arraigned Friday and released after posting $5,000 bail.
ORNDORFF has a preliminary hearing scheduled for the morning of Monday, June 14, before Magisterial District Judge Anthony Adams.
If you can afford to donate to Speranza Animal Rescue, please click here. Thank you!
Voice For Us Disclaimer: This story is sourced from official news outlets. Links included.
Details may be removed or additional information may be provided in future should such sources report an update.
Picture of BARRY LEE ORNDORFF via FOX43